I just got done dealing with 3 family/patient issues that have absolutely drained me and I have only been here 3.5 hours. I am in a corner talking a much needed mental break and asking God to help me get my head back together again so i can go put out the next fire. I just dont know why families think they can talk to nurses like dogs. Last I knew I wasnt one! :) Saw this article and decided to share. There are so many times I’ve heard someone say how great it must be to “only” work 3 days a week. I usually smile, nod, and lie through my teeth: yes, it’s great having 4 days off every week. But 12-hour shifts are usually 14-hour shifts, and the work that we do as nurses is physically and emotionally demanding, draining us every shift of every last ounce of energy. Our co-workers end up being an extension of our family because we secretly share the same struggles. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I only worked three days in one week. When you get the call at five in the morning that the next shift is short, that there’s this many people in labor (and only this many nurses), it’s hard to say no because you hope that someone would come in if you were the one working and begging for help. - We try to please our patients, their families, our providers, co-workers, and bosses. From the moment we step onto our unit, we are in a constant state of movement. We are constantly trying to take care of those around us and by the time we leave work, our feet are swollen from hours of standing, our backs ache from hours of bending, pushing, and pulling and sometimes our hearts are so full from the beauty all around us, the beauty that pulls us back to work day after day. And other times our hearts are heavy, our thoughts still with our patients hours after we are home with our own families. So to tell you the truth, it’s hard working 12, 13, sometimes 14 hours a day. We rotate holidays and bring a dish when we work Thanksgiving Day, or the Super Bowl, or Labor Day. We groan when we pick up the phone at 5 in the morning, but usually, we will still reach for our scrubs and come in when we’re needed because that’s what we do for each other. Sometimes we leave work exhausted and sometimes we leave work crying but when we leave, we always walk out together. So even though we work crazy hours and do crazy things, and our job is not always birth and babies and happy tears, I guess our work schedule isn’t so bad because we work with such amazing people. And I may not have an ounce of energy left in my body, but I will stay up late tonight and when I get up early and go to work again tomorrow, at least I know who I’ll be dancing with. Whats your working schedule like?
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:30:40 +0000
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